A/N: Sorry for the long delay; RL has been insanely busy lately. Thanks to Crisium and to Lilith Morgana for the beta and the hand-holding. All remaining mistakes are mine.


"I simply don't know what to do," the arlessa of South Reach said for the third time, pacing the length of the main drawing room of the Highever Estate. A great deal younger, smaller and stouter than her husband, Hulda Bryland faintly resembled a fuzzy round vole. The resemblance was made stronger by her habit of clutching her fists under her chin and twitching when she was nervous.

"School may be the best option," she continued, her heavy skirts swishing about her as she turned. "But I don't want my girl shut away in a cloister, or all the way in Orlais!" Her voice rose in distress.

Elissa watched her pace from the window seat, absently crunching a wrinkly winter apple. In Hulda's presence she abandoned all pretence of being an adult, not to mention the next queen of Ferelden, and curled up on the cushioned seat like a child.

"Hulda," she said eventually, when the arlessa's pacing threatened to make them both dizzy, "I don't care if she shouts at me; let her call me names or accuse me of carrying out an affair with Leonas all she wants, but she is starting to gain a certain reputation in Denerim…"

Hulda turned around, fists once more pressed to her mouth, but this time in amusement. "You, having an affair with Leonas? Oh, how funny!" Suddenly her smile slipped. "Oh, Elissa, love, surely they're not talking about her? We'll need to get her married, and soon!"

"Your servants are discreet, as usual," Elissa said. "But there are people visiting your husband, and there have been more since I arrived. Now that they know he is connected to the future queen—"

"Oh, I still can't believe it," Hulda exclaimed. "And the new king is so very handsome, too!"

"Hulda," Elissa said sternly.

"Yes, yes, I know," the arlessa said, pouting. "But you'll make a very handsome couple. Young and pretty and—"

"Hulda! I am not pretty, and we were talking about Habren."

Hulda deflated. "Oh, darling, must you?"

"Hulda…"

"Oh, don't look at me like that, my dear. It makes you look just like your father, and I used to be so afraid of him!"

Elissa laughed in surprise. "Afraid of my father? Hulda, really!"

"Oh, it's easy for you to say, darling, but I was just a minor bann's daughter, barely more than a child, and he was a war hero and a teyrn and—"

"And your husband's best friend," Elissa said with a grin. "He loved Leonas, and he was very fond of you. And you know my mother loved you, too."

"Oh, but that was later, darling, when they got to know me better. But your father had that dreadful serious look of his..!"

It had indeed taken her parents some time to realise that behind the silly, excitable exterior there was a sharp mind and a kind heart, Elissa remembered with a grin. Her father had even tried to politely inquire of Leonas if his friend had lost his mind, marrying such a silly girl. Considering both the teyrn and the arl had been quite deep in their cups at the time, they had nearly come to blows, much to the mingled horror and amusement of their wives and servants, not to mention Fergus and Elissa, who had snuck out of their beds to watch the spectacle.

"Hulda," Elissa said seriously, banishing all traces of the grin off her face. "Leonas is doing his best, but people do talk, and Habren has been running the seamstresses and the merchants ragged. Something needs to be done. She is scared and insecure, especially around her father. Has Leonas…" she trailed off, not sure how to phrase it.

Thank the Maker Hulda understood her immediately. "Has he had an affair, you mean? I don't think so, although of course he spends a lot of time in the city because of politics, you know. He may have fooled around with a servant, or gone to one of those places—"

Elissa dismissed the thought with a sharp gesture. "No, he wouldn't go anywhere he could be seen; it's too dangerous for him nowadays. And, frankly, I think those very same politics, and Habren, leave him too exhausted to, er, fool around."

"Oh, I thought so as well," Hulda said earnestly, finally sinking on a settee. "He looks so very tired. Do you think it will be any better after your wedding, darling?"

Elissa sighed. "Not immediately. And I'm afraid I will continue to need his support, Hulda. I'm sorry."

"Oh, my love, you needn't be sorry, not at all! We love you like a daughter, and the new king needs good advisors," Hulda said very seriously. "I will try to spend more time in the city, too; Leonas might like that."

"Oh, I know he will," Elissa said. "He knows politics like the back of his hand, but, Hulda, frankly—"

"Frankly, he couldn't find his boots if you put bells on them, and he is useless with children," Hulda said with a mischievous grin. "Don't I know it! But he is a good man, a kind man. I do love him," she confessed, lowering her voice.

"How positively indecent of you," Elissa said, trying not to laugh. "An arlessa, professing to love her husband, like some common merchant's wife?"

"Oh, you may well laugh, my love, but my very own mother was scandalised when she saw me making cow eyes at Leonas after we were married. She said that I had him already, so why was I making a laughingstock of myself?"

"My parents married for love," Elissa pointed out, taking a bite out of the apple and making a face at the taste.

"Oh, yes, and wasn't that a scandal? I was just a child at the time, of course, but I remember my parents talking. But," Hulda lowered her voice almost to a whisper, "I think Bryce marrying Eleanor was what gave my dear Leonas the idea to marry like… like a commoner, instead of picking one of the girls his parents had in mind for him."

"Come now, Hulda," Elissa admonished with a grin. "It was even said that King Cailan loved Queen Anora. Hardly commoners."

"Well, not him, at any rate. And you know what they said when she stayed barren." Hulda said darkly.

"Blood, blood, blood; sometimes it seems we never talk about anything else," Elissa said in disgust, putting her apple aside. "I'm marrying the king because I am a Cousland and his father happened to be a Theirin. Anora lost support from the conservatives because Teyrn Loghain had been a commoner. It's so vulgar, when you get down to it. All we care about is who has… lain with whom."

"Well, my love, not necessarily lain," Hulda said with a giggle, blushing. "Oh! Do you know what they did to Anora, by the by? Nobody seems to know anything."

"I decided not to ask the king until we are married, in case I happen not to like it," Elissa said with a sigh. "After, we can talk about it, but if we quarrel before the wedding, people will find out. Oh, that reminds me." She sat up straight. "Have you brought many people to the city with you?"

"My maids and my ladies in waiting," Hulda said. "Why are you asking, my dear? Leonas was saying he was looking for servants for you."

"Oh, yes. And he has a knack for it; I trust him. No, I needed… a loan, of sorts."

"Do tell me," Hulda begged, curling up on the settee. "It sounds so intriguing."

"I am telling you," Elissa said with a grin. It was impossible to stay downcast or serious for too long in Hulda's company. "I need a trusted – and I do mean a trusted – upper maid or servant of long standing to have a… talk with one of the new servants in the palace."

Hulda hummed thoughtfully, and for one moment there was a sharp, focussed expression in her eyes that belied the silly exterior. "Not one of mine, I think. I left all the… experienced ones in charge of the boys, back home. But I think I know somebody."

"Oh?" Elissa asked, slipping out of the window seat and moving to sit next to Hulda.

"There is a woman… she used to work at Sighard's estate, I think. She manages Ser Hjordis' house now."

"Who is Ser Hjordis?" Elissa asked blankly.

"Oh, you've seen her, darling. Tall, blond, keeps fighting duels with the other knights. Terrible sense of humour, but very pretty."

Elissa frowned. "I think I remember her… wait, wasn't she Alfstanna's lover some years ago?"

"There is no 'was' about it, darling," Hulda said with a wink. "They've been together these ten years at least."

"And this housekeeper of Hjordis', can she be trusted?" Elissa asked, refusing to be diverted with gossip.

"Oh, my dear, yes, indeed. She has been running errands for Alfstanna for years. You'll need to talk to them."

"So I will," Elissa said, making a mental note. "Thank you, Hulda. And now that you've given me such excellent advice, as always…"

Hulda twitched and pursed her lips. "Elissa, darling, I couldn't just send Habren away to Maker knows where!"

"You sent her to the city with Leonas."

"I know it was a mistake," Hulda said ruefully, and stood up to pace again. "But I didn't know what to do with her back home. She kept shouting at the boys, and sulking, and positively terrorising the servants. I thought maybe she'd grow up a little, here in the city."

"She might stand a better chance of growing up where there are more girls her age, and schoolteachers to make sure she behaves as a young lady should," Elissa said. "Hulda, you said it yourself, you'll need to look for a husband for her soon, and apart from the merchants' talk, I fear Leonas has been a little too… free with his opinions regarding her to his friends."

"Oh, that man," Hulda moaned. "He loves her, he really does, but I'll never know how he can be so good at politics and so bad at, well—"

"The rest of it," Elissa said dryly.

"I don't want her locked up in a cloister," Hulda said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I was sent to a cloister, and I hated it. The Chantry sisters were so strict!"

Elissa tried to imagine giggly, mischievous Hulda at a cloister, and failed. "What about an Orlesian school? I know they are expensive, but Habren seems well on her way to bankrupting the arling as it is."

"But it's so far away," Hulda said mournfully. "I would miss her so."

"You can write to her. And visit her, too. It's not forever, Hulda, and she does need to learn to behave. She is a pretty girl, smart, an arl's daughter, and she has a decent dowry. All she lacks is—"

"Yes," Hulda said darkly, fists pressed so tightly against her lips that her voice was quite indistinct. "Oh, well. I shall have to talk to Leonas."

~o0o~

Elissa spent over two hours trying to compose a sufficiently bland letter to Bann Alfstanna and Ser Hjordis, before giving up and simply inviting them both to visit her at their earliest convenience. Considering the mayhem that the upcoming wedding was causing, any invitation of Elissa's would be understood to have a hidden meaning.

Fergus, when applied for permission, simply stared down at her, blinking.

"You are asking me if you may entertain guests? Brat, are you out of your mind? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Elissa sighed. "It's your house. And besides, it's political."

"What isn't political these days, where you are concerned?"

It was a valid question, and Elissa, exhausted from writing dozens of painstakingly carefully worded letters and days of smiling politely at various people with more or less carefully hidden agendas just wished it could be all over. The certain knowledge that this was just the beginning of the "whole mess", to use Fergus' words, did nothing to improve her mood.

To her relief and vague amusement, Alfstanna and Hjordis called on her that very same afternoon. As merely Lady Elissa she would never have been able to command banns with a simple note, but as the future queen of Ferelden they would flock to her, if only out of curiosity. It was a strange feeling.

After the niceties had been exchanged and the servants had brought the refreshments and removed themselves discreetly, Alfstanna took her cup and gave Elissa a sharp-edged smile over its rim. "How can we be of service, my lady?"

Elissa leaned back in her chair, trying to warm her fingers on her own cup. The Estate of the Teyrn of Highever was somewhat warmer than some other big houses in Denerim, but even here it was still impossible to heat a huge stone room with a single hearth.

"Not service, Bann Alfstanna," she said bluntly, remembering their last meeting. "But I would like to discuss if I could trade a favour each with you and Ser Hjordis," giving a slight bow to the knight in question, "and repay them while I am still Teyrn Cousland's heir."

Alfstanna narrowed her eyes in thought. "I understand how you wouldn't want to start out already owning favours to people; it is a wise decision."

Elissa nodded. "Thank you, my lady. However, before we proceed, I would also like to mention the matter of confidentiality. I know you stand with Arl Bryland in the current politicial situation, but…" She trailed off with a smile.

"Perhaps your ladyship would like to state the matter first," Ser Hjordis said softly. "We can consider it unsaid later, if necessary." Alfstanna looked at her briefly, and then nodded assent.

"Very well," Elissa said. "Bann Alfstanna, you were at the Landsmeet when my husband-to-be and Arl Eamon brought forth the evidence that cost Teyrn Loghain his life?"

Alfstanna nodded, her lips thinning. "Indeed."

"Well," Elissa said, straightening, "I'm afraid Leonas protected me too well, because while I received the impression that his majesty had a personal interest in the teyrn's death, I know not much more than that, and those wild rumours I have heard while I lived in hiding. I would like to learn the entire truth of what has transpired. If you cannot tell me, I would like to know if you can point me towards somebody who can."

Alfstanna paused, thinking, before nodding slightly. "I see. And the other favour?"

"Ser Hjordis," Elissa turned to address the other woman directly, "I was told that your housekeeper is both discreet and… experienced. There is a certain servant working at the royal palace, who was hired to spy on the royal household. Most of the servants are as well, of course, and they will be replaced, but that particular woman strikes me as promising. I would need somebody to find out if she can indeed be turned, and if so, what kind of protection or help she requires."

Hjordis nodded slightly, then turned to look at Alfstanna, an entire silent conversation passing between them. Elissa felt an unexpected pang of wistfulness; how often had she watched her parents communicate like that, without words, simply by the virtue of knowing each other so well?

The women turned back to her and Alfstanna smiled, faintly but genuinely. "I think we should be able to come to an agreement, Lady Elissa. Although I have barely spoken to the king and so can tell you only what happened at the Landsmeet."

Elissa nodded. "Of course, my lady. What are your terms?"

Unexpectedly, Hjordis snorted a rough, unladylike laugh. "Alfstanna, I like her. You've finally found somebody who'll talk straight without being rude."

Alfstanna smiled, briefly and brilliantly, before looking up again, as composed as she'd ever been. "I'm afraid it is something disappointingly simple for me, Lady Elissa."

Elissa, who had dealt with Fergus' entire correspondence since their return to Highever, raised an eyebrow. "Fishing rights?"

Alfstanna's lips twitched. "I do not wish to put myself in a position where I would need to bargain with Bann Franderel for anything, not even for a copper bit. My fishing boats have had the right to pass the bay for hundreds of years, however."

Elissa considered for a moment. The demand wasn't unexpected, and Fergus would be easy to convince; he'd usually left such matters to her as it was. "One month a year, for two years; Matrinalis or Solis. Agreement to be drawn up by our clerks and signed by you and Fergus within the week."

Alfstanna nodded. "Agreed. And as to the other thing... I will also speak for Hjordis."

Surprised, Elissa threw a quick glance at Ser Hjordis, who nodded, looking regally unruffled in a way that Elissa vaguely envied.

"There is a knight," Alfstanna continued, "a childhood friend of my brother's. A skilled fighter, although rather simple. He was wounded at Ostagar, but not seriously, and he survived the battle of Denerim unscathed. He has the Maker's own luck, Irmnric used to say. I would ask you to have the teyrn interview him and, if he is satisfied, make him one of his knights."

Elissa frowned. "My lady, while we are indeed in need of more knights—"

"You needn't worry," Alfstanna said with a sigh. "Even if I wanted to use him as a spy in your brother's household, I couldn't. He is far too stupid."

"He will tell you the same joke five times, always being the one to laugh loudest," Hjordis said with a sigh and a wince of her own.

"My household cannot support any more knights," Alfstanna said with a half-shrug. "At least not his kind. I deal in politics, Lady Elissa, and I need men and women who can think on their feet, not good-natured dumb swords with a liking for cheap ale. I merely ask that your brother interview him; if he deems him too… unsuitable, I will understand. But I owe this to my brother."

"Very well," Elissa said slowly. "I will inform my brother to expect the man – with your letter of recommendation?"

Alfstanna nodded. "Indeed. Hjordis' housekeeper will come to see you tomorrow. And now to answer your first question, my lady."

Elissa set her cup down. "I am listening."

"Most of us suspected what Eamon was about when he called for a Landsmeet," Alfstanna said slowly, visibly organising her thoughts. "It was not a secret that Eamon had a bastard of Maric's whom he wanted to use to challenge the throne. In the beginning, however, Eamon merely spoke out against Loghain and his recent politics… and as little as I liked having been ordered around by Loghain in those months since he had assumed the role of regent, I would have stood with him, because Eamon had little else to offer than this unknown boy who would be his puppet, and his contempt for Loghain as a commoner in the Landsmeet."

Elissa nodded. "Leonas was going to side with Loghain as well. Loghain was the hero who had led the armies before, and Arl Eamon is…"

"Utterly unsatisfied with his lack of importance, and has been for most of his life, yes." Alfstanna's eyes were steely. "I cannot respect a man who would value the accident of one's parentage over one's qualities, as Eamon is wont to do, and it was obvious that he was planning to rule through the boy – whom neither of us had seen before. And the only other son of Maric's we knew had been—"

"A disappointment," Hjordis said. She sighed. "Cailan was always trying to live up to Maric's memory, but it looked like he had very little idea what that memory should be, beyond the legend that had grown through songs and tales. And he wouldn't listen to Loghain, who had been responsible for a large part of what we knew Maric had supposedly accomplished."

Elissa nodded. "My father always said the same thing. He didn't regret not being elected king; he would have hated it, I think, although he would have done his duty by Ferelden. But he was very disappointed in Cailan." She paused, thinking. "The Wardens, were they with Eamon when he spoke?"

"No." Alfstanna smiled briefly. "They came in later, after Loghain had replied to Eamon. They had a golem and a dwarf with them; very dramatic."

"Rumour has it they were travelling with an apostate and assassins," Hjordis said, "and a Circle mage. One of them had the foresight to leave all those behind, however."

Elissa had the suspicion the foresight had not been Alistair's. "What happened then?"

"They presented their evidence against Loghain," Alfstanna said tightly. "We knew by then that Howe had been torturing people. Irmnric had been one of his victims, after all. They had killed Howe, which was already a big mark in their favour, where the Landsmeet's opinion was concerned, even though Loghain protested that Howe's crimes should have been brought before the seneschal."

"Yes, after he butchered my family and proclaimed himself the teyrn of Highever," Elissa said tightly. "Not almost a year later."

Alfstanna nodded. "Quite so. Howe had never been popular, as you know, and not even Ceorlic had the hypocrisy to mourn him. And their evidence against Loghain was terrible indeed: among other things, conspiring with Tevinter slavers and letting them capture elves in the Denerim alienage, as well as employing a blood mage to poison Eamon, which ruffled the Chantry's feathers. But in the end it was Anora's testimony that was the most damning."

"Anora spoke against her father?" Elissa asked, surprised.

"She accused him, in essence, of regicide." Alfstanna's voice had gone quiet. "She said he abandoned King Cailan in Ostagar to seize the throne and was now planning to kill her. And with Loghain refusing to see that the Blight was a greater danger than the Orlesians, with most of the south overrun and so many dead already… the Landsmeet was more united than I had ever seen it on any other issue in recent times."

Elissa swallowed. "Who ordered Loghain's execution?"

"Nobody," Alfstanna replied, still quiet. "Loghain refused to stand aside, so the Warden agreed to a duel to determine the winner."

"There haven't been duels in the Landsmeet for decades!" Elissa said, surprised.

"They were popular before the occupation, but not since," Hjordis said. Elissa thought there was a faint note of regret in the knight's voice.

"The Warden was very good," Alfstanna said meditatively. "Fighting with two swords is not easy in the first place, and he—ah, well." She exchanged a quick smile with Hjordis. "He won the duel. Loghain surrendered to him."

"But I thought—" Elissa began, then checked herself. "I apologise. Please continue."

"It was a rather odd situation. Although the Warden accepted Loghain's surrender, Alistair demanded his execution anyway. He seemed to feel very strongly about King Cailan's and all the other Grey Wardens' deaths at Ostagar, and was blaming Loghain for those. And then the other Warden came in—"

"The… other Warden?" Elissa asked weakly, feeling as if she was well on her way to losing track of the tale. "What other Warden?"

"An Orlesian, of all things. I don't exactly know where he came from, but he suggested making Loghain a Grey Warden instead of executing him."

"I see," Elissa lied. "And then?"

"And then your husband-to-be protested vehemently, my lady," Alfstanna said dryly. "He insisted that being a Grey Warden was a great honour Loghain was not worthy of, and that he would not fight beside him if the Warden – the Dragonslayer, that is – would make him one. So the Warden—"

"The Dragonslayer," Hjordis interjected. "The elf, not the Orlesian."

"Well, anyway, he shrugged and beheaded Loghain then and there," Alfstanna said, rolling her eyes at Hjordis.

"Oh," Elissa said, feeling rather overwhelmed.

"Does that answer your question, my lady?" Alfstanna said placidly, taking a sip of her no doubt cold tea. "I'm afraid it is all we saw. Eamon might know more, and the king most definitely does, but…"

"You answered most comprehensively, my lady. I thank you," Elissa said.

"You will soon have an opportunity to find out the entire story from your husband," Alfstanna said. "And speaking of the king, are you looking forward to your ball? The entire city is abuzz."

"Oh, certainly," Elissa said brightly. "Shall I ring for more tea?"

~o0o~

"I'm not going," Elissa said, examining her reflection in the full-length mirror of her dressing room. "Maker, what have I been thinking?"

"The teyrnir of Highever thanks you, my lady," Fergus said gravely from the door. "Your… extensive purchases of silk and pearls were a great help in improving our trade relations with the Antivans."

"I hate you," Elissa said. "So, so much. Look at me! I look like a painted Orlesian doll."

"That's not my fault," Fergus pointed out. "I wasn't allowed anywhere near you when you were getting that dress made. And stop trying to kick me; you'll fall over again."

Elissa pulled at her heavy skirts and glared at the mirror again. The pearls in her ears dangled, the ones in her hair glittered, and the ones around her neck were choking her like a noose. The finely embroidered bodice of her dress was terribly itchy, even through her chemise, and the skirts would probably have weighted less had they been made of chainmail.

"I can't go there like this," Elissa said, trying to adjust her dress enough to allow her to breathe. "This is the last time they'll see me as a private person. They—"

"You haven't been a private person even when you ran around training with Gilmore, brat," Fergus said with a crooked smile. "You were the heir presumptive before… before Oren was born, and Father might have made you his heir anyway. I wouldn't have minded, you know. I would rather have lived… anyway. You look magnificent. As well you should, my lady, considering what this dress cost us – and what it signifies."

Elissa studied her pearl- and embroidery covered reflection and raised her chin.

"It was your decision," Fergus continued softly, and stepped to the side, so she could see him in the mirror. "But if you'd rather… if you absolutely hate it, I can still come up with an emergency in Highever, or—"

"I am a Cousland," Elissa interrupted him, and took a step back, so the mirror showed them both side by side. "We are Couslands. There is no going back."

"So go out there and be magnificent," Fergus said with a grin. "My sister, the future queen. I still can't—"

"Be on time anywhere?" Elissa suggested tartly. "Good thing we are a stone's throw from the palace."

"And in a few weeks you'll be living a stone's throw from—"

"I'm disowning you," Elissa said sweeping out of the room and muttering a curse as her skirts almost knocked over a small table.

"I think you've got it backwards," Fergus said, following her down the stairs to where the servants were waiting with the cloaks and the knights and torch-bearers stood waiting at the door.

Elissa took Fergus' hat that was being held by a maid and rammed it onto his head. "You need a haircut," she said sweetly.

"And you need some manners," he muttered, gesturing to the knights who fell into formation around them.

They had elected to walk to the palace, surrounded by knights and pages, because, as Fergus had pointed out at the time, it would have taken longer to saddle the horses than to ride the really negligible distance between the Highever Estate and the royal palace. The weather had held for days, and Elissa relied on her maid to shake out the worst of the dust from her hem to look presentable. Fergus was looking quite handsome as well in his dark blue velvet, and for once clean-shaved but for his beard. He also looked annoyingly comfortable. It was really quite unfair that women were saddled with bizarre jewellery and ridiculous clothing for these occasions while men could still wear trousers and doublets, Elissa thought.

When she entered the main hall of the palace on her brother's arm, she was assaulted by the glitter of the guests' finery and by the whispers that rose up as their entrance was announced. She smiled and nodded with practiced ease, already feeling a headache coming on.

When the king came to greet her, his manner and expression were as polished as any other noble's in the room. He was dressed in embroidered brocade, wearing it with only a slight hint of stiffness. It was only during the opening dance that she saw something like real emotion in his smile.

"You look very, er, nice," he offered, guiding her carefully through the steps.

"Thank you. It's probably the ugliest dress I've ever worn," Elissa said with perfect honesty, and then blinked, horrified at herself. "I do apologise, Your Majesty. I've been—"

"Don't," he said quickly. "Don't apologise. I've missed talking to, you know, real people."

Elissa, whose own "real people" only counted Fergus and the Brylands thought she knew exactly what he meant, although she made sure her tranquil smile did not give it away. "You dance very well."

"I was ambushed by several instructors a few weeks ago," Alistair said bitterly. "It was probably a good idea, but I would have appreciated some notice."

Another perfectly executed turn showed them Arl Eamon talking very seriously to Fergus, whose bland, polite expression could not quite hide the wry twist of his lips, although Elissa suspected not many people would recognise it for what it was. "I wonder what he is offering Fergus this time," she murmured. "Last I heard it was some rather lucrative trade contract in Orlais."

"For what?" Alistair asked when they came face-to-face again after a complicated figure. "And can he do that?"

"As long as it only involves his own personal contacts, yes. Although it's always best to keep an eye on those things. Redcliffe has always been very conveniently placed for all sorts of trade… arrangements," Elissa murmured. "He is trying to convince Fergus to exert his influence over me, so I don't get out of hand."

"You? But," Alistair visibly checked himself. Behind him, Elissa saw Bryland dance with Hjordis, both of them flushed and laughing, and Hulda and Alfstanna watching them with identical, indulgent smiles.

"Fergus was very amused when he first told me about it, but I think Arl Eamon is severely trying his patience by now. Fergus doesn't like politics very much," Elissa said and winced as she almost tripped over her skirts.

"Who does?" Alistair asked with a quickly hidden wince of his own.

"Bann Alfstanna, for example. She lives and breathes politics," Elissa said, pointing her chin in the woman's direction.

Alistair turned to look, but then shook his head impatiently. "Can I talk to you later? In private I mean. I don't know how—"

"I talked to Fergus about this; he knows," Elissa interrupted him, speaking quickly as the dance was winding to a close. "We will approach you after dinner."

Alistair bowed over her hand, disengaging them gracefully and leading her back to her chair. The dance tutors had done their job, Elissa thought, but the acute sense of wrongness that had overcome her last time she had seen the king show the expected court manners was still there.

The rest of the dance and dinner was exquisite and expensive torture. In the end, she attached herself to Fergus' arm like a barnacle, both preventing people from trying to approach him regarding her, and from doing more than plying her with polite small-talk.

At the agreed time, Fergus, looking exhausted under his calm façade, guided them towards the king, who was being talked at by a grim Arl Eamon and a thin-lipped Bann Franderel.

"Your Majesty, my lords," Fergus said with a reasonable imitation of cordiality. "I'm afraid my sister is fatigued and desires some little rest before the dancing resumes."

The king's eyes narrowed but he reacted quickly. "Let me accompany you to the gallery, Teyrn Cousland, Lady Elissa."

Franderel backed away with a bow but Arl Eamon was made of sterner stuff. "Allow me to escort you, my lady," he said with a kind smile.

Elissa pouted slightly, allowing her lips to tremble, and leaned closer to Fergus. "Oh, no, my lord, I couldn't possibly have you to trouble yourself so," she said as weakly as she could.

Fergus pressed his lips together tightly but almost instantly regained control of his expression. "Thank you, Arl Eamon, but I think I will be glad of a walk. I am still unused to such gatherings after the simple pleasures of Highever."

The three of them were silent on the way to the gallery, until they passed a maid who was polishing a brightly shining doorknob. She curtseyed to the king before turning and curtseying to Elissa as well.

Elissa let go of Fergus arm with a sigh and tried to stretch her shoulders within the confines of her dress. "Oh Maker. I think I've been raining pearls all evening."

"Was the maid one of Bryland's?" Fergus asked. "I thought she looked familiar."

"She begged to be allowed to work at the palace," Elissa said absently, pulling at her sleeve. "I hope Your Majesty has no objections," she added belatedly, looking up at the king.

"My Majesty doesn't," Alistair said, looking after the maid in some bemusement. "So who is actually working at the palace now?"

"Since I am not in charge of the household yet, there are still the same, ah, informants as there have been before," Elissa said. "However, the under housekeeper could be persuaded to… assist and has accordingly hired several trusted servants."

The king shook his head. "Do I even want to know how you managed it? No, forget I asked; I really don't want to know, do I?"

"It might be for the best," Fergus said with a smile that did nothing to hide his exhaustion. "If you wish to talk to my sister in private, Sire, I will wait here, with your permission." He nodded at a nearby bench.

"Ah, yes. Thank you," Alistair said, and then offered Elissa his arm. "My lady?"

"Your Majesty," Elissa said, taking his arm with one last glance at Fergus, who waved her off.

"Is he all right?" Alistair asked quietly once they were halfway down the gallery.

"He is…" Elissa considered her answer carefully. "He has lost everything in his life. Being in Denerim and part of court politics is exhausting for him, but it's better than the alternative of being lost in memories, if he were to stay in Highever."

"Yes, keeping busy helps," Alistair agreed quietly, and looking up Elissa saw a shadow cross his face briefly. "So," he said with brightness that could almost pass for real. "I actually wanted to introduce you to somebody first."

Elissa blinked. "Introduce me to whom?" she asked, her mind offering and discarding more and more unlikely scenarios.

"You'll see in a minute," Alistair said with a real smile as he led her down a corridor. "Well. I hope you'll like each other, because—" he pushed a door open and stepped back.

The shape sprawled in front of the low fireplace was so familiar that Elissa took a step into the room without realising she'd done it, before coming to a standstill. One didn't just enter a room with an unfamiliar Mabari, at least if one valued one's life and limbs, her father's voice said at the back of her head. The great dog at the fireplace, however, just raised its head to look at her, but didn't even stand up.

"You didn't say you had a Mabari," she said to Alistair without taking her eyes off the dog.

"Uh, well," she didn't need to see Alistair to know that he was running his hand through his hair. "He isn't mine. He sort of… adopted Darrian after Ostagar. It's a long story. Anyway, after… well, after everything, he seemed content with living here with me. But he doesn't… he isn't mine."

"What's his name?" Elissa asked without moving.

"We didn't know," Alistair said, sounding embarrassed. "So we just called him, uh, Dog."

"I see," Elissa said carefully, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice. "Do you mind if I come in?" she asked the Mabari, and took his lack of reaction as assent, coming in and sitting down on the rug a few feet away. The rug looked reasonably clean and her dress deserved worse.

"My name is Elissa," she told the dog as it turned its huge head to look at her without otherwise moving. "I'm going to marry Alistair in a few weeks, so I will be living here in the palace. I hope you don't mind."

The dog – should she start thinking of him as Dog? – barked quietly and gave a low whine.

"Oh, I'm not, not at all. But you reminded me of my own Mabari, you see. I miss him very much. That's why I first came into the room without asking your permission." She swallowed, her habit of not-crying suddenly difficult to accomplish when facing somebody so familiar and yet so strange. "For a moment I thought you were… well, he was called Spear. Sorry. I was just a girl when I named him, and I thought it sounded wonderful; a Mabari attacking an enemy like a soldier throwing a spear. I do know how silly it sounds, now."

Dog barked and wagged his stub of a tail a little.

"Oh. Good to know. My brother laughed at it, though, and I know my father found it funny, though he never said. But I think my brother was just jealous; he didn't have a Mabari, he only has his hunting dogs."

Dog barked again, a little louder.

"Oh, yes, don't I know it. But it had its drawbacks, too. When Father took us hunting, Fergus' dogs did their job and at and the end of the day we had a brace of rabbits and some ducks, or what have you. And then, if I wasn't careful, Spear suddenly dragged in a deer."

Dog barked loudly, his tail swishing across the floor.

"Well, yes. But it meant Father and Fergus had to carry the deer back to the castle somehow, and deer are heavy. I've learned a lot of new and interesting curses that way."

Dog turned over on his stomach and put his head down just next to Elissa, looking up at her. He gave a brief, sad whine and nudged her knee.

"Oh." She swallowed against the sudden tears; expected but very unwelcome. "You know who Howe was, right?"

Over Dog's growl, Alistair said quietly from behind her, "He was there when we killed him."

"Oh, good boy!" Elissa said involuntarily. "Did you go for his throat?"

The triumph in Dog's bark was unmistakable, and the tail was again wagging.

"Well done! I hope you tore his jugular out," Elissa said. "I'll see if I can smuggle in something from the kitchens for you."

"Maker, remind me to always stay on your good side," Alistair said, a smile in his voice. "And I'll see about a steak for him, or something. The job does come with some perks."

Dog barked quietly, nudging Elissa's knee again.

"Right, sorry. Howe… betrayed my father. He ordered everybody in the castle killed. Every servant and knight, Fergus' wife and son, and my parents. I was the only one who escaped. Spear…" She swallowed. "He took several arrows for me, and bled to death on the road. I had to— to," she forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply. "I had to hide his body in the bushes, so they wouldn't find him and guess where I'd gone. I didn't even have the time to burn or bury it."

Dog whined and licked her hand briefly.

"Thank you," Elissa said thickly. "I didn't mean to tell you sad stories. I just wanted to introduce myself. It's… I missed having a Mabari around to talk to. I hope you won't mind me chatting your ears off when I live here?"

"He's probably used to it," Alistair said, coming to crouch next to her. "I talk to him all the time. He—ow!" He jerked his hand away. "He bit me!"

"I saw," Elissa said, biting her lip. "How would you like it if somebody stuck a hand into your face?"

"How come he didn't bite you?" Alistair asked, almost pouting. "You're a stranger."

"A well-behaved stranger," Elissa said primly, over Dog's bark. "The first rule of meeting a Mabari is to remember that he can kill you before you have time to draw a sword."

Dog bared his teeth in demonstration.

"I'll… just move over here, shall I?" Alistair said, but he was smiling.

Elissa looked back down. "You are right; the… job does come with some perks. I think perhaps we should go hunting, come autumn."

Dog barked happily, tail wagging.

"How does one hunt with a Mabari?" Alistair asked, sounding a little apprehensive. "I mean, I've seen him kill; it's just… how do you get him to stop before there isn't a single animal left in the forest?"

"Well," Elissa said meditatively, suddenly feeling more cheerful, "either we figure it out, or we enjoy the 'perks' and have the guards carry the carcasses."

Alistair stood up and offered her a hand, smiling. "I'm looking forward to it."

"So am I," Elissa said, realising with some surprise that she was sincere. She let Alistair pull her to her feet and made a half-hearted attempt at brushing dust from her skirts. "Other than introducing us, was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

He looked away and Elissa thought he might have been blushing, though it was hard to tell in the semi-darkness. "I just wanted to… well, to talk to you. We're going to be married on Summerday."

Elissa nodded. "Indeed."

"I know we're getting married because of… politics," he went on doggedly. "But we're going to have to live together."

"So we are," Elissa said. She nodded at a group of chairs at the far end of the room. "What did you want to know about me?"

Alistair waited until she sat down before sprawling over a chair. "I don't even know… it was a stupid idea. I'm sorry."

Elissa looked at her king, seeing a tired young man with a pinched and unhappy expression. "I like apples," she said after a moment. "I suppose I ought to like fish, because we eat so much of it in Highever, but I think I already grew tired of it when I was a child. I used to like riding and hunting, before."

He looked up, a smile lighting his face. "Good; I can't stand fish," he said. "I love cheese. All kinds."

"Even that… fuzzy gooey cheese?" Elissa asked, grimacing.

"Hey, that's the good stuff!" he protested, still smiling.

Was it possible to be friends with one's husband, Elissa wondered abruptly? She knew her parents had been friends as well as lovers, but they had married for vastly different reasons under vastly differently circumstances. It might be nice, she thought tiredly. Relaxing together after a long day with somebody she liked, with no thoughts of politics or anything more serious than, say, cheese. She couldn't quite imagine it, but it might be nice.

"Alistair," she said and waited until he looked at her, alerted by her serious tone. "Fergus mentioned something to me, and I think he was right. You're not… comfortable with the court manners, are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"It is really too obvious, even though you've gotten very good," Elissa said gently. "But any of the… players can see your dislike. I think you need… something else."

Alistair leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his face. "Something like what?" he asked, voice muffled by his hands.

"Something else better suited to you. Something that won't stifle you so much and won't require you to waste so much strength on it."

He looked up, looking lost and tired. "I was trained to become a templar," he said resignedly. "And then I spent six months with the Grey Wardens before I was suddenly one of those really crazy people who decided to assemble an army out of nothing to fight the Blight. There is nothing better suited to me; just killing darkspawn." He sighed. "I miss killing darkspawn. At least they didn't make small-talk before they tried to cut your head off."

"Some middle ground, then," Elissa persisted. "Something more… you."

Alistair shook his head. "Eamon and the others… you don't know what it's like."

Elissa realised that he was probably right. Even when Aldous and her other tutors had been overwhelming her with work, there had always been her family to turn to, or some escape to be had with the knights on the training grounds. Alistair, on the other hand, was alone.

"Do you still train?" she asked absently. "Templars usually fight with sword and shield, don't they?"

He frowned, startled. "I… yes. I talked them into letting me train with the captain of the guard every morning. Why do you ask?"

"I haven't touched a sword since I left Highever," Elissa said. "We'll need to be careful at first, lest they think you're simply beating me and not besting me on the training grounds."

He was really very handsome when he smiled. "You fight? Well, of course you would. It will be a pleasure to win against you, dear lady. Duel with you, I mean. Obviously."

"Obviously," Elissa echoed. "I think we should go wake Fergus up before we're missed."

He followed her into the corridor, closing the door with a nod to Dog, who had watched them leave. "Do you think…" he began carefully, before shaking his head. "Sorry, never mind."

"Do I think what?" Elissa said, taking his arm and wincing as yet another pearl detached itself from her sleeve.

Alistair wasn't looking at her, and she couldn't make out his face in the flickering shadows from the wall torches. "It won't be all politics, will it? I mean, not all the time. The training…"

Was it possible to be friends with one's husband? "It won't be all politics," Elissa said with far more certainty than she felt. "I'll even let you win some of the duels."

Next chapter we'll finally get to the wedding. And, you know, other things. Promise!